Ebonyi warns against stigmatization, discharges one patient, eight still in treatment

Ebonyi state government on Friday warned against stigmatization against those who tested positive of COVID-19 but were treated and discharged.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Daniel Umezuruike, stated this at the COVID-19 treatment centre in Abakaliki while discharging a young lady who tested positive for the virus and was treated by the state medical team.

He said the lady has tested negative of the virus after being confirmed positive, 14 days ago.

Umezuruike disclosed that the lady was the 5th case among nine cases of the virus recoded in the state.

“We are here at the treatment centre to discharge one of our patients who tested negative after being confirmed 14 days ago for covid-19. We thank God for this success story. We thank his Excellency the Governor for all his efforts, wisdom and commitment in fighting this pandemic since inception.

“I also want to use this opportunity to thank the frontline health workers who have come out boldly with confidence without fear of anything to confront this scourge. As we are discharging this young lady, we are congratulating her too because out of the nine cases that we have so far registered in Ebonyi state, she is the first person that tested negative.

“She wasn’t the first person to come but she was the first to be negative. So, we congratulate her. We have told her that as she is discharged today, she is free but there is one peculiar problem with covid-19 because anybody that have suffered it before can still contract it.

“We told her that she should always wear her face masks, wash her hands regularly and intermittently with running water and soap, to also rob intermittently with alcohol based sanitizers, maintain physical distancing.

“We want to use this opportunity to tell the general public that when a person is free of covid, the person is free of covid. There is no room for stigmatization. At presently she is free and anybody is free to interact with her at physical distance level”, he stated.